A Kick in the Pants to Create Better Systems
Last month, I visited my dear friend and college roomie, Amy Ray, and she brought me as her guest to the annual Women Lead Change conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
For me, it was an unusual two-day foray into the corporate world. For the attendees, it was a break from spreadsheets and meetings and a chance to take a breath and get inspired.
And inspired we were! There were a number of really engaging and motivating speakers, including Lauren Graham (author/Lorelai Gilmore) and Ally Love (Peloton instructor/host).
One of the keynotes was given by James Clear, author of Atomic Habits.
Clear spoke about how tiny (even 1%) gains accumulate to become life-changing improvements over time. Great news, right? So, why don’t more of us commit to making these 1% improvements?
Clear says it’s because:
“You do not rise to the level of your goals.
You fall to the level of your systems.”
And to me, this was encouraging — because we can improve systems!
Something I thought was really interesting from Clear’s research on habits was that if we make small changes to our environment, we can begin to automatically, unconsciously cue better habits.
For example, maybe if I moved the bowl & the container of oats I use to make overnight oats to a more obvious work station or prominent place in the cabinet, I would be more likely to make said oats before bed. Simply placing the two items together instead of in two separate areas in my kitchen could help improve my “system” of prepping a healthy breakfast for the day ahead.
(Have I done this yet? Of course not! I’ve just been thinking about it for weeks. 💀 OK, OK. I promise to do so when I finish writing this email.)
Maybe there are ways we can change the way we set ourselves up for the marketing tasks we procrastinate on, too?
What about:
- opening a new browser window to your Mailchimp so it’s the first thing you see when you log back on in the morning?
- setting an alarm on your phone for a midday selfie video to talk about what you’re working on to your social media audience?
- propping your phone up near the sound system during rehearsal so you remember to film a bit of the last run-through?
These little changes to our usual routines could begin to cue and improve habits in our communications, and these new habits would instill consistency over time, further nurturing our relationships with our followers and supporters.
In his presentation, Clear said it’s not always obvious to us that these small improvements are improving our position, because humans tend to place more emphasis on current position than we do on our trajectory.
Where you’re at today probably feels pretty damn close to where you were at yesterday. Especially if you’re just starting out. And then it feels like, ‘what’s the point of this work?’ 🤷🏻♀️
BUT, as Clear demonstrated in his talk: “If you’re on a good trajectory, all you need is time.”
What 1% change can you make in your marketing?
Clear teaches that there are 4 stages of habit formation:
- Cue – a trigger to initiate the habit
- Craving – the prediction that compels you to act
- Response – the actual habit you perform
- Reward – the result that satisfies your craving
In order to cultivate a new habit, you have to make it obvious, attractive, easy and satisfying.
So, let’s say you’re trying to show up more regularly on social media. How can you make that obvious, attractive, easy and satisfying?
Well, you could make it obvious by setting an alarm on your phone or your calendar that notifies you at the same time per day and says: “Post on social media!”
Great. You see the notification, but it’s easy to hit ignore, right?
How do you make the task attractive? What would motivate YOU to follow through? A promise to a friend? A little treat? Think about it. Try something out this week!